Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Of Babies, Alpaca, and The Y

I have to keep this one short as I am very, very tired and I need to get up early to get a jump on the day again. Nevertheless, there is a lot to cover. Let's get started.

First, the babies. Now--I don't have gobs of cousins because in general, on both sides of my family the generation before me kept things relatively conservative in the baby-having department. My Dad was the most prolific, having four of us. I have four cousins on my mother's side and four cousins on my father's side (and three siblings) and that's it. I am also the oldest on both sides and by luck and personality--way out ahead of all the rest in terms of getting married and then having kids. Max had to wait ten years for an honest-to-goodness maternal cousin and I think seven years for a second cousin or cousin-once-removed (I don't really know the difference).

But now my younger cousins are reproducing in earnest and there are at least three babies coming this spring. I must knit them all something. But what? Sweaters? I'd kind of like to do a blanket. But blankets are incredibly time consuming and I have that Orenburg Shawl to finish. (Not to mention Chris's second sock. and hat. and sweater.) I don't know what I'm going to knit but I think that I'm going to knit them all something in ALPACA because alpaca is what we bought for Chris's hat and I. am. in. love. This fiber is like buttah. It's so soft I have to stop knitting sometimes and just pet the developing fabric. I want mittens in alpaca. I want an alpaca teddy bear. (Plus, it's fun to say. alpaca. alpaca. alpaca. Now something magic should appear :)

I worked on the latest version of Chris's hat a lot today because it was a Very Busy Day. I got up at 5am in an attempt to finish a work project today while simultaneously being A Good Mother. I was mostl successful. I got Chris and Max off to school at a reasonable hour and took the twins to swimming. I am frustrated by the swimming lessons. We seem to keep signing up and the twins are thrilled and they go and they do pretty much the same thing every time and yet after over a year (on and off) of swim lessons, Milo is only just barely an Eel and Ben is a pike. This is like having to admit your sons are 7th year seniors. Now, I will grant that NOTHING seems to bring on a cold with a major asthma attack for Milo faster than signing him up for swim lessons. I'm starting to suspect there's a chlorine/asthma connection for him. So he never gets to go all 8 lessons in a row. This lesson won't be an exception. He was so sick last week with his asthma (he ran a fever for the first three days. After that, he just plain couldn't breathe. We didn't get any improvement until we got approval for the prednisone.) that he didn't go ANYWHERE. Not to church, not to school, not to swim lessons. I kept trying to will him better and he just . . . wouldn't.

Chris tells me this is no big deal and maybe I shouldn't get up so early. hmm.

So we came home from the swimming lessons that my sons will never graduate from (they'll be seniors in high school, still swimming with floaties) (what? my attitude is fine) and I worked and then the next thing I knew it was time to leave again. So I grabbed my knitting and gloves and warm jacket and packet of Intramural Ski Program stuff and headed over to the school and had a very hectic two hours of cat herding chaperoning, followed by a fairly relaxing and succesful final hour in which all our kids had lots of fun and found their parents at the right time and went home happy.

Except Max and Zach who went off to boy scouts because, you know, skiing isn't enough. They had a GREAT time there and then Max came home and got to work on his homework and now it's 9:45 and we're finally going to bed.

We didn't get any piano practicing done today. That's totally going to come back to haunt us at piano lessons tomorrow evening. Tuesdays are sooo long and yet--not long enough. Oh, well.

It was a good day though. One of those days that makes me happy because it's just so incredibly clear that a) I didn't just move here. I saw people at the ski lodge (because the whole flippin' town was at the ski lodge) that I knew and people from church and people from school and -- this is my home town and even as incredibly introverted as I am -- I know these people and b) we're never ever moving again. It's fine and safe to put down roots here. To bother to learn people's names and the names of their kids and the names of the OTHER elementary schools and . . .

3 comments:

My next-door neighbor has alpacas. There's probably about ten there, now. I can walk out my back door and pet an alpaca any time I want. I have yet to actually knit with alpaca yarn, though, because I'm afraid I'll be tempted to walk out in the middle of the night and sheer them.

Has the doctors suggested giving Milo a breathing treatment before swimming? Exercise brings on an attack for me if I don't pre-treat. Somewhere in the corner in the dark of my mind I have heard of people being allergic to chlorine, but another idea is mold. Has Milo been tested for allergies? I shudder to think about doing that to a child (well, to anyone really) but it sounds like it might really help.

You know, James is 8. 8, and still terrified to go in water deeper than two feet. So imagine my shock in the fall, when, with visions of my strapping 18yo son in floaties and a nose plug, I looked out to see him halfway across the quarry we go to. ALONE! With no life vest on! ACK! He waved like a happy little sea lion and swam back.

It took me days to recover. I mean, I wanted him to learn to swim, but did he have to do it so covertly and then scare me like that?

They'll get the hang of it one day. Out of the blue.

Sounds like a wonderful day, though. I love the words all together like that. :-)

About Me

Whizzing through the 40's fast. Actively Married. Socially progressive. Mormon Democrat. Is a fan of people supporting themselves, but not of the incessant cuts to child welfare and education programs. Occasionally joyous and grateful. Occasionally crabby and stingy. Always opinionated, but totally open to hearing your thoughts on the matter.